Dead Reckoning - 2104

[thisismyboomstick]

Ash is sprawled out on the sofa, tossing and turning. Someone - probably Slack - has thoughtfully draped a blanket over him, but he isn't sleeping very peacefully.

Instead, he's dreaming. Of a mist-filled forest and a deserted, run-down cabin.

... Again.

Comments

[horseblanket.livejournal.com]

It's possibly not very like Sheila to have been there.

Well, she wasn't actually there. In the actual cabin.

But she is now, wearing Shelley Williams' hat.

A boy, aged three, holding onto her hand -- and both of them, looking horror-stricken at something that isn't actually there.



Hallucinations, in dreams, are common.

Who's hallucinating, the dreamer or the dream?

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

On some level he's aware that it isn't real, that Sheila and his not-yet-born son are safe back at the bar, but that doesn't matter as he reaches towards them.

From somewhere unseen, a vine wraps itself around his arm.

"Sheila!"

[horseblanket.livejournal.com]

"Was tun Sie dort? Wir benötigen Sie hier!" calls Sheila, voice shrill in a sort of half-scream.

At her side, the child adds a squeak of "Padre!"


Also common in dreams are the tendency of other people to speak in confusing, illogical, or simply foreign tongues, demonstrating the dreamer's desire to closer understand the involved parties.

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

What the hell?

He struggles against the vines blocking his way as a low, eerie, moaning voice fills the air.

"Join ussss..."

[horseblanket.livejournal.com]

And the little boy, well, he's a little boy.

When wish fullfillment is not straight up the result of a dream, analysts often turned to the other end of the spectrum, that of the 'death drive.'

He reaches out for one of the trees, and Sheila shrieks again.

"Jack! Jack, kommen Sie Dummkopf eines Kindes, hier --"

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

"NO!"

He manages to wrest himself free of the clinging vines, but not fast enough to stop what happens next.

God, not again-

[horseblanket.livejournal.com]

She reaches and grabs toward the child, but he's swallowed by the vines, the trees, the dead in their natural habitat -- here --

"Hilfe, verfluchen Sie!" she screams at Ash, eyes wild, frightened, before reaching again at where her boy was. "Kind, halten bitte an --"



But death, in dreams, is often a sign of a new beginning.

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

His scream echoes in the empty room as the forest drifts away into nothingness.

He's awake.

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"-- hang on to your hats, kids, it's just the primate boy," says Pilsbury, after everyone else in Reckoning has jumped at the sound of Ash's scream.

Slack gives him a Look.

Yes, they are all standing there.

"... Ash?"

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

"Yeah."

He eyes the assembled group. He'd be glaring if his mind could form a coherent thought.

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"You okay?" she asks, glancing at Charlie, who in turn waves the rest of them off with his rifle.

Nobody messes with Charlie's aim.

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Just another nightmare..."

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"Don't you think it's getting a little out of hand?" she counters.

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

He leans back, clutching the blanket in one hand.

"I want to go home."

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"You look like a four-year-old with his security blanket."

Slack dares to tease for about as long as it takes to say that.

"... the question is, where's home?"

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

This time he does glare.

It doesn't really have the desired effect since he's still holding onto the blanket.

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"I won't ask again, then."

Riley and Motown are arguing over the kitchenette. Slack, listless, turns to go and join in the fight over what delightful canned treat should be had for an early breakfast.

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

He stares at the wall, momentarily lost for words.

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

And a minute later, she throws a can of Red Bull at him.

Gently.

"Drink up and wake up. Long day ahead. Unless of course," she collapses against the couch arm, "there's actually something you want to talk to me about."

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

He wipes a sleeve across his face and pops open the can.

"I just... need to go back."

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"Lucky for you, I have what could easily be termed a permanent accession point."

Slack winks.

The way she gets to Milliways whenever she wants, even when they keep moving?

Of course the door's in the truck.

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

Well that makes sense.

"... Sheila's gonna kick my ass, isn't she?"

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"I think she won't have the balance. Second trimester does that," says Slack with all the wisdom of someone who has had at least ten pregnant roommates.

"Shall I tell the boys and Pret we're going out a while?"

[ash--evildead.livejournal.com]

That... isn't really what he meant at all.

"Yeah."

[cuttingslack.livejournal.com]

"Riiiiley, my sweet one," Slack coos, as she heads over toward the kitchenette. "Give me some time off?"

There's a whispered conversation, and backpack in hand, leather coat around her shoulders, she returns.

"Okay. So, watch this. It never fails. This old freezer we don't use actually opens into the bar, which I always found to be --"